This invention relates to a flowing gas laser of the kind in which the gas flows continuously through the lasing region and is circulated through a heat exchanger for cooling before returning to the lasing region.
This invention relates particularly to a flowing gas laser which has a resonator module mounting and supporting all of the optical components of the laser and which has a separate blower module for cooling the circulating gas and for pumping the cooled circulating gas back to the resonator module.
It is necessary to cool the gas in a flowing gas laser in order to obtain desired levels of power amplification and desired efficiency of operation. The amplification and efficiency decreases with increasing temperature of the laser gas.
A pump or blower is required to circulate the flowing gas between heat exchanger structure and the components of the laser associated with the active regions of lasing action.
The heat and the vibration which are incident to the heat exchange and pumping can distort or otherwise adversely affect the structure or performance of the optical components of the laser.
Assembling the active components of the laser and obtaining accurate positioning of those components with respect to one another can also present problems, particularly when the laser incorporates a folded optical path for making the overall structure more compact.